css.Build

{{< new-in 0.158.0 />}}

[!note] The css.Build function is backed by the evanw/esbuild package, providing a mature, high-performance foundation for bundling, transformation, and minification.

Use the css.Build function to:

• Recursively replace @import statements in CSS files with the content of the imported files
• Transform syntax for browser compatibility
• Apply vendor prefixes for browser compatibility
• Minify the bundled CSS code
• Create a source map

If an @import statement includes a media query, a feature query, or a cascade layer assignment, the function wraps the imported content in the corresponding @media, @supports, or @layer rule.

Usage

In this example, Hugo bundles the local files referenced by @import statements to create and publish a single resource with inline content.

assets/
└── css/
    ├── components/
    │   ├── a.css
    │   └── b.css
    └── main.css

@import url('https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/the-new-css-reset/css/reset.min.css');

@import './components/a.css';
@import './components/b.css';

.c {color: blue; }

.a { color: red; }

.b { color: green; }

{{ with resources.Get "css/main.css" | css.Build }}
  {{ if hugo.IsDevelopment }}
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="{{ .RelPermalink }}">
  {{ else }}
    {{ with . | fingerprint }}
      <link rel="stylesheet" href="{{ .RelPermalink }}" integrity="{{ .Data.Integrity }}" crossorigin="anonymous">
    {{ end }}
  {{ end }}
{{ end }}

{{ partialCached "css.html" . }}

The generated CSS code:

@import "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/the-new-css-reset/css/reset.min.css";

.a {
  color: red;
}

.b {
  color: green;
}

.c {
  color: blue;
}

To minify the generated CSS code, use the minify option as described below.

Options

The css.Build function takes an optional map of options to fine-tune bundling, minification, and browser compatibility.

externals : ([]string) A slice of path patterns to exclude from bundling. The @import statements for these patterns remain as-is in the generated CSS code. See details.

{{ $opts := dict "externals" (slice "./exclude-these/*" "./exclude-these-too/*") }}
{{ $r := resources.Get "css/main.css" | css.Build $opts }}

loaders : (map) A map of file extensions to loader types. This determines how files with a given extension are processed during bundling. By default, Hugo uses the css loader for .css files and the file loader for all others. Common loaders include:

• css: Processes the file as a CSS file
• dataurl: Embeds the file as a base64-encoded data URL
• empty: Excludes the file from the bundle
• file: Copies the file to the output directory and rewrites the URL
• text: Loads the file content as a string

See details.

{{ $opts := dict "loaders" (dict ".png" "dataurl" ".svg" "dataurl") }}
{{ $r := resources.Get "css/main.css" | css.Build $opts }}

mainFields : ([]string) A prioritized slice of field names in a package.json file that determine the CSS entry point of a Node package. The default is ["style", "main"]. See details.

When an @import statement references a Node package, Hugo consults the metadata in the package.json file to find the stylesheet. Use this option to support packages that define a CSS entry point using non-standard fields.

{{ $opts := dict "mainFields" (slice "css" "style" "main") }}
{{ $r := resources.Get "css/main.css" | css.Build $opts }}

minify : (bool) Whether to minify the generated CSS code. Default is false. See details.

{{ $opts := dict "minify" true }}
{{ $r := resources.Get "css/main.css" | css.Build $opts }}

sourceMap : (string) The type of source map to generate. One of external, inline, linked, or none. Default is none. See details.

{{ $opts := dict "sourceMap" "linked" }}
{{ $r := resources.Get "css/main.css" | css.Build $opts }}

sourcesContent : (bool) Whether to include the content of the source files in the source map. Default is true. See details.

{{ $opts := dict "sourceMap" "linked" "sourcesContent" false }}
{{ $r := resources.Get "css/main.css" | css.Build $opts }}

target : ([]string) The target environment for the generated CSS code. This determines which syntax transformations to perform and which vendor prefixes to apply. If unset, no transformations or prefixing are performed. Each element consists of a target name and a version number. Supported targets include chrome, edge, firefox, ie, ios, opera, and safari. See details.

{{ $target := slice "chrome115" "edge115" "firefox116" "ios16.4" "opera101" "safari16.4" }}
{{ $opts := dict "target" $target }}
{{ $r := resources.Get "css/main.css" | css.Build $opts }}

In the example above, the target environment is roughly equivalent to the browserlist "baseline widely available" profile as of March 2026.

targetPath : (string) The path to the generated CSS file, relative to the project's publishDir. If unset, this defaults to the asset's original path with a .css extension.

{{ $opts := dict "targetPath" "css/styles.css" }}
{{ $r := resources.Get "css/main.css" | css.Build $opts }}

vars : {{< new-in 0.160.0 />}} : (map) A map of key-value pairs used to generate CSS variables. The css.Build function injects these variables into the stylesheet when it encounters the hugo:vars internal identifier within an @import statement.

{{ $vars := dict
  "font-family" "\"Times New Roman\", Times, serif"
  "font-size" "24px" 
  "primary-color" "blue" 
}}
{{ $opts := dict "vars" $vars }}
{{ $r := resources.Get "css/main.css" | css.Build $opts }}

In the example above, using the identifier in your CSS allows you to access the values using standard CSS variable syntax.

@import 'hugo:vars';

.element {
  color: var(--primary-color);
  font-family: var(--font-family);
  font-size: var(--font-size);
}

The above produces output equivalent to:

:root {
  --font-family:
    "Times New Roman",
    Times,
    serif;
  --font-size: 24px;
  --primary-color: blue;
}

.element {
  color: var(--primary-color);
  font-family: var(--font-family);
  font-size: var(--font-size);
}

{{< new-in 0.161.0 />}}

The map may optionally contain nested maps. Each nested map is exposed as a separate hugo:vars/<name> namespace, where <name> is the key of the nested map (lowercased). Top-level scalar values and nested maps are independent. A top-level @import 'hugo:vars' only includes scalar values, while @import 'hugo:vars/<name>' only includes the scalars from the named nested map.

{{ $vars := dict
  "font-family" "\"Times New Roman\", Times, serif"
  "font-size" "24px"
  "primary-color" "blue"
  "mobile" (dict 
    "font-size" "12px"
    "primary-color" "red" 
  )
}}
{{ $opts := dict "vars" $vars }}
{{ $r := resources.Get "css/main.css" | css.Build $opts }}

Because nested imports follow the same rules as regular @import statements, you can attach a media query, feature query, or cascade layer assignment to a hugo:vars/<name> import.

@import 'hugo:vars';
@import 'hugo:vars/mobile' (max-width: 650px);

body {
  background-color: var(--primary-color);
  font-family: var(--font-family);
}

The above produces output equivalent to:

:root {
  --font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;
  --font-size: 24px;
  --primary-color: blue;
}

@media (max-width: 650px) {
  :root {
    --font-size: 12px;
    --primary-color: red;
  }
}

body {
  background-color: var(--primary-color);
  font-family: var(--font-family);
}

The vars option is useful for setting CSS variables within your project configuration.

{{< code-toggle file=hugo >}} [params.theme.style] font-family = '"Times New Roman", Times, serif' font-size = '24px' primary-color = 'blue'

[params.theme.style.mobile] font-size = '12px' primary-color = 'red' {{< /code-toggle >}}

{{ $opts := dict "vars" site.Params.theme.style }}
{{ $r := resources.Get "css/main.css" | css.Build $opts }}

When passing a vars map to the css.Build function, you can use the css.Quoted function to explicitly indicate that a value must be treated as a quoted string, most commonly for font-family names or the content property.

[!note] If you're using TailwindCSS and want to use the vars option to inject CSS variables, see this section in the TailwindCSS documentation.

Example

The example below uses several of the options described above to bundle, transform, and minify CSS code.

{{ with resources.Get "css/main.css" }}
  {{ $opts := dict
    "loaders" (dict ".png" "dataurl" ".svg" "dataurl")
    "minify" (cond hugo.IsDevelopment false true)
    "sourceMap" (cond hugo.IsDevelopment "linked" "none")
    "target" (slice "chrome115" "edge115" "firefox116" "ios16.4" "opera101" "safari16.4")
    "targetPath" "css/styles.css"
  }}
  {{ with . | css.Build $opts }}
    {{ if hugo.IsDevelopment }}
      <link rel="stylesheet" href="{{ .RelPermalink }}">
    {{ else }}
      {{ with . | fingerprint }}
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="{{ .RelPermalink }}" integrity="{{ .Data.Integrity }}" crossorigin="anonymous">
      {{ end }}
    {{ end }}
  {{ end }}
{{ end }}

Using the options above, Hugo does the following:

• Embeds PNG and SVG images as data URLs in the generated CSS code
• Minifies the output in production but not in development
• Generates an external source map in development but not in production
• Transforms syntax for compatibility with the targeted browser versions
• Adds vendor prefixes for compatibility with the targeted browser versions
• Publishes the generated CSS code to css/styles.css
• In production, adds an SRI hash and inserts a file hash into the filename

Common patterns

The examples below cover the most frequent use cases for referencing resources within your project or within Node packages. These patterns apply to both @import statements and the url() functional notation used for images and fonts.

All resources referenced by a path, including images, fonts, and stylesheets, must reside in the assets directory of the unified file system, or within a Node package.

Files in the assets directory

To include a stylesheet from the assets directory, you can use a bare path, a relative path, or a root-relative path. When you use a bare path, Hugo searches relative to the current stylesheet, then relative to the assets directory.

/* A bare path */
@import "variables.css";

/* A relative path */
@import "./theme.css";
@import "../layout.css";

/* A root-relative path */
@import "/css/grid.css";

/* A url() reference using the same resolution logic */
.logo { background: url("/images/logo.svg"); }

Node packages

When referencing a Node package by name, Hugo consults the package.json file within that package to find the entry point.

@import "bootstrap";

Files within a package

To reference a specific file within a Node package, provide the path starting with the package name.

@import "bootstrap/dist/css/bootstrap-grid.css";